Burkina restaurant attackers 'came from Mali': security source

Militants who shot and killed 18 people at a restaurant in Burkina Faso's capital most likely came from Mali, a security source in Ouagadougou told AFP on Wednesday.

"Looking at the tactics of the assailants, their physical traits, they probably came from northern Mali or closer to the border" with Burkina Faso, an army officer said on condition of anonymity.

Gunmen killed nine locals and nine foreigners as they dined on the terrace of a Turkish restaurant in Ouagadougou late Sunday.

The Burkinabe victims comprised seven men and two women: the foreigners were two Kuwaiti men, a Canadian woman, another Canadian woman with dual Algerian nationality, and one man each from France, Senegal, Nigeria, Turkey and Lebanon.

Another 22 people were injured in the attack.

No group has claimed responsibility but Burkina Faso has witnessed a string of such attacks blamed on Islamist extremists.

"The fact that the attack hasn't been claimed just suggests that it's an isolated act that could be linked to Ansarul Islam or AQIM," the officer said.

Ouagadougou prosecutor Faso Maiza Sereme has described the attackers as very young and made it clear that they went there ready to die.